Arizona State’s new athletic director would make $600,000 a year in base salary with just as much in potential bonuses under a proposed contract going before the Arizona Board of Regents.

That’s $150,000 more than the annual pay for ASU’s previous athletic director, Steve Patterson, who had a base salary of $450,000 per year with similar bonus provisions. Patterson became Texas’ athletic director in November with a five-year contract that pays $1.4million annually.

ASU President Michael Crow named Ray Anderson, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, vice president for university athletics last week, pending regents approval. The regents are scheduled to discuss the proposed five-year contract Wednesday and could vote to approve the deal.

Anderson is making seven figures in the NFL office, where he has worked since 2006. In 2009, Sports Business Daily reported he earned $1.12million annually. In his introductory news conference, Anderson acknowledged he was taking a pay cut to come to ASU.

“What makes up for it (making less) is the opportunity to have a real impact and be a real influencer,” the 59-year-old said.

“While I’m like anyone else, I want to be paid fairly, I want to make what’s due and that’s happening here. I’m proud to say I’ve been treated extremely fairly, but I don’t need NFL money. I need gratification, and I need the chance to be part of something really special and really dynamic and life-changing in some instances.”

Here are the main provisions of Anderson’s proposed contract:

A signing bonus of $200,000 plus an annual retention bonus of $200,000 a year. None of the retention bonus, a total of $1 million, would be paid until the end of the five-year contract. Patterson had a retention bonus of $100,000 a year.

Academic performance bonuses for meeting targets for athlete graduation rates and grade-point averages. Anderson could get up to $587,076 if he met maximum goals in all categories. He also could get $11,538 for each team that receives an NCAA public recognition award for team Academic Progress Rate. The progress rate is a measurement over multiple years of academic progress and a university’s retention of athletes.

Up to $600,000 in athletic performance bonuses for meeting goals in postseason appearances and wins and achievements in the Directors’ Cup. Anderson’s total bonuses in any given year, however, can not be more than 100 percent of his base salary.

Relocation expenses, plus use of two vehicles or a stipend, golf privileges at ASU Karsten Golf Course and reimbursement of membership fees and dues at a country club.

The contract will contain a non-compete provision but details on that won't come until the contract is executed and signed by ASU.

The ASU athletic director oversees an annual budget of $65 million and a program that includes 22 varsity sports.

The football team and women’s basketball team are ranked in their respective AP Top25 polls, and the men’s basketball team began its season 13-4. The combined performance of all ASU varsity teams annually ranks in the top 25 nationally of the Directors’ Cup standings.

In recent years, Crow has been hoping to make the athletic department more self-sustaining by bringing in additional revenue. Like many other universities, ASU’s athletic programs receive money from the university’s general budget. That direct support was $8.6million for the last fiscal year.

Anderson, a native of Los Angeles, earned a bachelor’s in political science from Stanford in 1976 and a juris doctorate degree from Harvard Law School in 1979. He was a three-year football letterman and two-year baseball letterman at Stanford.

Anderson co-founded the sports law practice at Heller, Ehrman, in 1980 and entered the sports agency business in 1984. In 1987, he started his own agency, AR Sports, specializing in the representation of NFL coaches and players and later adding Major League Baseball players. Anderson merged his agency with Octagon in 2001. He was the Atlanta Falcons’ vice president for four years before joining the NFL office.

Crow said he has three priorities for the athletic director: Help student athletes maximize their academic achievement and ensure they graduate on time, win within the rules and take an important role in the university’s campaign to improve and expand its sports facilities through the development of the university’s Athletic Facilities District.

The district, 330 acres on the south side of Tempe Town Lake, will be home to an mixed-use development that will help fund the renovation or rebuilding of university athletic facilities, including the aging Sun Devil Stadium.

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